xt7kkw57ds8s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7kkw57ds8s/data/mets.xml Hussey, John, 1831-1888. 1876  books b96-12-34872171 English Printed for the Survey by J.P. Morgan & Co., : [Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Botany Kentucky. Report on the botany of Barren and Edmonson counties  / by John Hussey ; with an introduction by N.S. Shaler. text Report on the botany of Barren and Edmonson counties  / by John Hussey ; with an introduction by N.S. Shaler. 1876 2002 true xt7kkw57ds8s section xt7kkw57ds8s 









(GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.
         N. S. SHALER, DIRECTOR.



     REPORT ON THE BOTANY



BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES,

    BY JOHN HUSSEY, BOTANICAL ASSISTANT,


 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY N. S. SHALER.

       PART 11. VOIL. 1. SECOND SERIES.



27 A 28

 This page in the original text is blank.

 




INTRODUCTION.



  The following report of Professor Hussey, Botanical Assist-
ant of the Survey, is published in advance of the completion
of the work of which it forms a part, in order that there may
be some immediate record of the economic and scientific value
of the forest trees and other plants of Western Kentucky. I
am satisfied that the very great importance of the store of
woods useful in the arts found in Western Kentucky has been
greatly overlooked, and deserves immediate attention, The
finest hard-wood forests known to me in any country lie between
the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Mississippi river.
I am confident that there is no other region on this continent
where as large a mass of timber useful in the arts, and contig-
uous to transportation, can be found.
  The arts into which these varieties of wood enter are mul-
tifarious, and of the greatest economic importance. I am sat-
isfied that there is no point in America where so extensive
opportunities exist for the creation of a direct trade in hard-
wood with Europe. For many years wine-cask staves have
been shipped from this district to New Orleans, and, though by
the imperfect organization of the business half a dozen profits
are paid before they come to the coopers' hands in France,
they pay the best profits that are made on the oak timber in
this district. By very little effort the casks could be made on
the French models on the ground, and shipped as bundles of
staves to Europe. A precisely similar industry exists in the
shipment of sugar-boxes from the State of Maine to Cuba, the
parts being bound up in  i shooks" and bundles.  By this
arrangement the value of this industry to our people would be
greatly increased. The demand from this source is very great,
and steadily increasing. Another most promising industry has
yet to be begun on this ground, though existing elsewhere in
                                                          -9

 

REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF



less favorable portions of this country, viz: the making of car-
riage-parts hubs, felloes, and other elements in such structures,
for export. For this purpose the new growth of timber on the
barrens, as well as much of the slow growth oak, hickory, &c.,
of other parts of this district, is peculiarly fitted, having all
the properties of second growth. All along the tributaries of
Green river we have admirable trees for such industries; places
where water-powers can be utilized at actual contact with per-
manent navigation for steamers directly connecting with New
Orleans by the cheapest possible carriage.
  The ample stores of oak and other ship timbers along this
stream suggests the possibility of developing another industry
here. Good ship timber can be had in this district at one third
the lowest prices ruling on the Atlantic seaboard. Food is
scarcely half as dear. So I am confident that a given tonnage
would not cost one third what it would in transatlantic ports,
as far as these elements of cost are concerned. Coal for run-
ning saw-mills, where steam-power is preferred, can be had for
about two dollars and a half a ton. When built, ships would
not want for cargo. They could be laden with timber or grain,
and could be taken without risk to New Orleans each winter,
though drawing as much as twenty feet of water. This is be-
yond all needs of vessels of this class. Used in this fashion,
there is an immediate and most important source of wealth
in our vanishing forests, which exceeds computation. Again
and again, on the borders of Green river, I have seen, in a few
dozen acres of tobacco clearings, enough noble ship timber
going to utter waste by fire or decay to have built half a dozen
large merchantmen. If such a demand could be created, there
are tens of thousands of acres in every Green River county
that would be worth a hundred dollars per acre for their
timber alone.
  In a certain way, the hard-wood timber of Western Ken-
tucky is a more immediate and satisfactory source of wealth
than its coal or iron. It takes less capital to develop an indus-
try in it, and the competition will be far less considerable. At
the same time, in the class of population it attracts to the State,
30



4

 
BARREN AND EDNIONSON COUNTIES.



and the variety of industry it brings in its train, the industries
in wood are superior to all other forms of manufacturing.
  The scientific questions connected with our Western forests
are even as interesting as those of an economical nature.
While they must be reserved for special discussion in the
memoirs of the Survey, where, as matters of purely scientific
value, they will find their proper place, a brief statement of
some of the most important points may be admitted here. In
connection with the ancient barrens or prairies, which gave
their name, in itself a misnomer, to Barren county, one of the
most fertile regions in the State, we have two important ques-
tions: First, as to the origin of the treeless conditions which
prevailed there when our race first came into the region; and
secondly, how the retimbering was effected. The discussion
of the first of these questions will lead us far into the difficult
problems connected with the origin of prairies. I would only
suggest, that inasmuch as the forests came back on the stop-
page of the fires, to which reference is made in the following
report of Professor Hussey, it is not unreasonable to look to
for sweeping fires as the cause of the first destruction of the
timber. We have seen within a few years how forest fires,
once gaining headway in an unusually dried forest, may sweep
over hundreds of miles of territory. A practice of firing prai-
ries long continued might in time extend their limits from the
regions where they are natural, from the absence of sufficient
rainfall, over more and more of the forest area, until the prairie
area had been driven from the Upper Missouri into the central
regions of the Ohio Valley. This seems to me the most satis-
fItctory method of accounting for the change.
  The rapid restoration of the timber in Kentucky and parts
of Indiana and Ohio, while the prairies of Illinois show but
little tendency to restore their timber, is less easily to be ex-
l)lained. I am inclined, after considerable study of the matter,
to conclude that the " barrens " or prairies of Kentucky had not
been long stripped of their timbering, the period of open con-
tlitions having endured for such little time that the seeds of the
trees had not all decayed in the soil. In no other way could the
                                                            3'



Us

 


6                REPORT ON' THE BOTANY OF

exceedingly rapid return of the forests be explained. It has
not yet been possible to adopt the statistical plan of studying
our western forests shown in the report on the forests of
Greenup county, &c. When this is done, it will be seen that
the new or second-growth forests on. the "barrens" is not
nearly as diversified as the other and older forests; there being
far more variety in the trees of the old than there is in the
new forests.
  Assistant John R. Proctor, of the Kentucky Survey, has
made some important observations as to the Western forests
of the old - barrens," going to show that the conglomerate or
beds just below the coal form a natural limit to this once tree-
less area on the west. The detail of these observations will
properly find a place in the proposed memoirs on the distri-
bution of the forest trees of Kentucky.
                                        N. S. SHALER.
32

 










             INTRODUCTORY LETTER.


Professor N. S. SIIALER-
  SIR: The accompanying report is, as you will see, on the
basis of actual collection. The number of plants in the list
could have been greatly augmented had I placed in it plants
observed, but not collected.
  The first part is a list of the collections actually made,
arranged according to the catalogue of Mr. A. H. Curtiss,
which follows the order of Gray's Manual.
  The second part is made up of Notes on Distribution, Ter-
ritory Collected Over, and Botanical and Economical Notes.
This part could have been greatly enlarged; but I thought that
it would be better to await the results of a further prosecution
of the Survey, to enlarge upon the peculiarities, the richness,
and the economical value of the Flora of Kentucky.
                               Respectfully,
                                       JOHN HUSSEY.
  LAFAYETrE, IND., March 15, 1875.
    VOL. L.-3                                            33

 






        REPORT ON THE BOTANY
                           OF

 BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES.

                 By JOHN HUSSEY.


               TERRITORY COLLECTED OVER.
  My collections were made in the western part of Barren
county, or that part west of the Louisville and Nashville Rail-
road, in the Cave region, and in the county of Edmonson. My
observations in Barren county would lead me to the conclusion
that the traditions which are current as coming from the settlers
are true; that is to say, that when the whites first came to these
parts, it was, indeed, a barren region, destitute at least of trees.
On the more level parts of this county the trees are yet small
in size and few in species. The size of the trees alone would
settle the question as to the length of time in which the present
forest has stood, especially when taken in connection with the
absence of the remnants of an older forest in the matter of
fallen trunks and stumps. On the line of sandstone-capped
hills seen rising between the line of the railroad and Green
river are to be found larger trees than any in the more level
portions of the county, showing that when the rest of the
county was bare of trees, there were some crowning these
hills. The limited number of species found in Barren county
would itself be conclusive of the question of the recent intro-
duction of forest growth into this region. The most of the
oaks are of the following species: Qutercus, coccinea, rubra,
nizgra-the latter species very numerous. Alba is found, but
not abundant; also imibricaria and ob/usiloba, about the numer-
ous sinkholes. I saw no poplars, no tulip trees, linn, beech,
black walnut, or butternut.
34

 

BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES.



  The largest trees are oaks, about fifteen inches in diameter
three feet from the ground. I saw scarcely a willow or a maple
of any kind. The soil is a stiff limestone, considerably impreg-
nated with iron, making it of a red color, and not highly pro-
ductive of ordinary cereals. The surface is very uneven, being
full of sinkholes, formed by the falling in of the cavernous
passages which form a network under this whole district. The
celebrated Mammoth Cave is only one of the hundreds of cav-
erns of this remarkable region. Not in the trees only, but
also in the herbaceous flora, was the limited number of spe-
cies noticeable. It is well understood that the aborigines of
this country were accustomed to burn over the surface of the
prairies; but for what purpose it does not seem to be perfectly
understood. There may have been several considerations
which led them to this quite universal custom. It has been
said that they thus destroyed the old culms of grass, and
cleared the way for the springing of the tender shoots in the
spring. They may also have had in view the destruction of
hurtful insects, as the grasshoppers, by destroying their eggs.
or of noxious serpents, which must have been destroyed in
immense numbers by the annual fires on the prairies. Another
reason may have had consideration; the tall dead grass would
be liable to be fired by accident at any time, and thus human
life and many villages be endangered in the night, or in times
of high winds, with no means of escape: but if at a certain
time, when all are on the lookout, the firing should take place,
there would be no danger to life or property.
  This habit of firing the prairies must have exerted a wide
influence on the character and distribution of plants in the
parts of our country where prairies existed. Certain plants
could not survive the fires. The annuals must have been
greatly diminished by the custom. Those which were peren-
nials under ground, would suffer less than any other class of
plants. The fire swept off everything above the surface-
seeds not covered by the soil, young plants of trees; but the
well-protected living roots of herbaceous perennials, with the
nourishment of another crop of shoots stored away safely be-
                                                          35



9

 

REPORT ON' tHE BOTANY OF



neath the sod, suffered no damage. But as these fires were
annually kindled, how did it happen that here and there all
over the broad prairies clusters of trees withstood their de-
structive influence, and lived and flourished The reason of
the deficiency of trees on the prairies has been held by some
to be the absence of the nutriment in the soil which they
required, or the fineness of the soil, which was supposed to be
unfavorable to the growth of timber trees. This latter view, taken
in connection with the fact that the knolls on which the clumps of
trees are generally found are composed of more porous ma-
terial, as sand or gravel, seemed to receive confirmation. But
the fact that all kinds of trees do grow well when planted and
protected in prairie soil, upsets both these theories without fur-
ther refutation. The soil is not too finely divided; it does not
lack the necessary constituents. Not taking into consideration
how a country may have been deprived of a forest-whether
by the ravages of insects, a succession of unfavorable seasons,
or by a conflagration alone, or connected with one or all of
the foregoing causes, or by any other cause-when once de-
prived of a forest, annual fires would likely prevent its restora-
nion while they were continued. If the fires were purposely
kindled, and at a certain time, so that the villages could be
protected against their ravages, the inhabitants would do it by
clearing away the dead grass from the vicinity of their dwell-
ings. In fact the grass would perish to the roots around their
villages from being trampled upon and burnt out by the fires
in and about their habitations. It is not beyond supposition
that the aborigines themselves, for various reasons, might
scatter the seeds of trees intentionally or accidentally, from the
mast with which they must have provided themselves for winter
consumption. They would occupy the knolls, if such there
were, for their villages. The aboriginal well knew where the
beds of gravel were, as is proved by the use he invariably
made of them as repositories of his dead. Throughout West-
ern and Southern Ohio scarcely a terrace gravel-bed has been
dug out and removed for road-making, but has been found to
have been used as a place of interment for his dead.
,6



lo

 

BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES.



  I hcd no opportunity to learn by observation how extensive
the prairie was, a part of which extended into that portion of
Barren county in which I collected. It evidently extended
some distance south or southeast of Bowling Green; but how
far it did extend in this direction or eastward, I had no oppor-
tunity to observe. To the westward, in Edmonson county,
there is evidence of the treeless condition existing. The very
numerous ravines, valleys, and hillsides, become covered with
tree growth first. The large tulip trees, hemlocks, sugar ma-
ples. beeches, and chestnuts found in these less exposed localities,
prove that generations of tree growth have passed since their
seeds were scattered here; but the uplands show, that long
since the deep valleys and hillsides were covered with forest
growth, these were almost or entirely bare. Notwithstand-
ing this, however, Edmonson county was forest-covered a gen-
eration before Barren county.
  Taking the two counties together in which my collecting
was done, they differ very much in surface character. In Bar-
ren county the prevailing rock is limestone, except on the caps
of the high hills, where sandstone is found. But in Edmonsoii
county the heavy conglomerate and sandstone of the carbonif-
erous period prevails at all points. The deep gulches cut by
the numerous tributaries of Nolin and Bear creeks give a very
different character to the geography of this county from that
of Barren. These gulches must considerably modify the cli-
mate; at least in them and beneath their immense walls of
conglomerate and sandstone the extremes of heat and cold are
greatly modified, and protection is furnished to several species
of plants not found out of these places in this region.

                     BOTANICAL NOTES.
  The list accompanying this will show the limited number of
species found in the counties collected over. To give a correct
understanding of the list, I should state that my collecting was
confined to the months of May, June, July, and a few of the
first days of August. The weather was unusually dry, which I
suppose exerted an unfavorable influence upon the number of
                                                          37



I I

 

REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF



species. When it is borne in mind that this region is widely
separated from the Allegheny Mountains, that it is not a high
region, the presence of Abies Canadensis will be unexpected;
but this makes a large growth in the gulches of Edmonson
county. The flex opaca attains the size of fifteen to eighteen
inches in diameter, and forty to fifty feet -in height. The little
shrubs, J./lIztzela repents and Gazlthleria procuenmbens were found
in abundance there. Kalntia latifo/ia is abundant. The
PFtc/a /rzifolia/a grows on the Nolin. I mention this to say
that I noticed that the petals did not open in all instances, but
cohered at their apices, and were pushed off by the stamens
and pistils as in some species of the vitis genus.
  The .Spbi-aca aruincus was a very common plant, and I noticed
a feature of it which I have never seen referred to by any one;
it was the occurrence of a small deciduous bractlet on each
pedicel, but not touching the flower. The Leavenworthia Afich-
awfrlii was collected by me near the town of Glasgow Junction.
just northwest of town, growing in a nearly filled-up sinkhole.
'I'his is quite a rare plant, and but few specimens were found.
7/-i/o'liumn rcflexziin occurs in several localities between the
railroad and Mammoth Cave, which is in the eastern part of
Edmonson county. I mention it because I have never found so
many specimens in any one locality before, and also to make a
note of the fine rose-pink color it everywhere had. The variety
of Ced/is occiden/alis, called izimila, commences to appear in
Barren county, and extends everywhere through the country
as far as Hopkinsville, in Christian county. I did not see the
ripe fruit; but shrubs ten feet high were not uncommon, with an
abundance of fruit. The leaves are thin, smoother than those
of the large form, and much tapering. I did not see a large
tree of Cel/is occidentalis anywhere in this section such as are
everywhere seen in creek bottoms north of the Ohio. Among
ferns, I found, in Barren county, growing on the extreme east-
ern end of the sandstone ridge, under which is Short Cave,
Cheilan/hces ves/i/a. The hairs on this fern were distinctly
jointed, and between each joint much flattened; but the con-
tiguous sections flattened in different planes. This character
,8



1 2

 
BARREN AND EDNION'SON COUNTIES.



is not given in descriptions, although in other species of the
same genus the hairs are called - obscurely or distinctly articu-
lated; " and in one the word " flattened" is added-vide Gray's
Botany.
  The fern Polypodizun incanum was collected on that ledge of
sandstone running between the mouth of Mammoth Cave and
Green river, and perhaps two hundred yards from the main
entrance to the Cave. It was also found growing on a large
sand rock on the west fork of the creek, which flows by the old
iron furnace west of Nolin, and about one half mile above the
furnace. I did not find it in any other locality in the county.
I consequently did not find it growing in the moss on trees or
the roots of trees. Those places where I did gather it were
very dry; had as little opportunity for moisture as any places I
could name. One was on the edge of a sand rock among dried-
up moss. With the other was found growing the Canp/osorus
r/Ziiop ky/las. Mr. W. T. Knott, of Lebanon, Kentucky, showed
ine a single frond Poljpodiumn incanium, which he had gathered
among moss on earth beside a stream. Mr. John Williamson,
of Louisville, has found this fern within twelve miles of that
city. I found the Asp/en/unz Bradleyi on a cliff at the head
of Dismal creek. It grew on the face of a steep sand rock
exposed to all the vicissitudes of the weather. This limited
locality was the only place of its occurrence, according to my
observation. It seems here as a relic of a former period, hav-
ing perished from all these miles of cliff formation, and linger-
ing here awhile before giving up the struggle of existence so
far to the north. A hundred or so fronds were all I had heart
to gather, not willing to hasten its extermination by any act of
mine.
  The Triclhornanes radzcans, by a singular coincidence, was
found growing near, on, or rather under, the same cliff. This
rare fern I found in about a dozen localities in this county,
always growing on the under side of an overhanging sand rock,
where the moisture trickled down and kept the leaves bedewed
with spray. I collected this fern also last year in the extreme
eastern part of this State, in Carter county. The fronds evi-
                                                          39



1 3

 

REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF



dently remain active for several years. They bear their spore
cases on the end of veins on the edges of the fronds. In no
case have I ever seen a frond, which seemed recently unfolded,
develop its spore vessels. A season of repose, of longer or
shorter duration, occurs after its development, before it puts
forth its little cups, from the bottom of which the bristle grows,
and at the base of which the sporangia develop and cluster.
But what seemed still more curious to me is the fact that the
crops of sporangia. are not all formed and ripened at once; but
they are successively developed at the base of the lengthening
bristle. I have seen these bristles more than half an inch long.
and still beset at the base with ripening sporangia, the scars
left by those long since fallen being still visible all along the
bristle. I think the life of a fertile frond may be for as long as
four or five years. It may not be out of place to add, that the
fronds were generally well filled with spore vessels. It is prob-
ably due to the fact that the numerous flocks of sheep which
find protection under the overhanging cliffs during winter, and
feed upon this fern, that its extinction seems so near at hand.
There were hundreds of situations where it might flourish as
well as where it was found, but where it is not found to grow;
and those places where it was found were inaccessible to the
sheep, either by being above their reach or too far under the
rock. I had often to crawl or draw myself in to where it cov-
ered the under surface of the overhanging rock, where there
was barely room for my head and shoulders.

                     ECONOMICAL NOTES.
  Turning to the more practical side of my work, I can say
that the quantity of valuable timber-trees seems practically
inexhaustible.
  Soft-wood.-The tulip tree, in the west commonly called pop-
lar (Liriodendron heuipifera), is abundant along the tributaries
of Green river. The trees are of large size, and make good
lumber. Those which grew nearest the river and its principal
tributaries have been mostly floated down the river; but in the
country back there is still much of this valuable timber.
40



14

 

BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES.



  The sweet gum (Liquidambar styraczjifla) is still very abun-
dant on the river and its tributaries. This tree has not been
sought after so much as the tulip tree, and, consequently, has
not been removed to so great an extent. It is a soft wood, and
valuable for most purposes where poplar has been used. For
all kinds of structures, where there is no immediate exposure
to the weather, this is a valuable wood. The trees are of im-
mense size, being frequently found in the counties lying next
down the river from Edrtonson county, four and a half feet in
diameter and seventy to eighty feet high, with scarcely a limb.
They equal the largest poplars. There is not much lin or
bass-wood (Ti/ia Americana) found on the tributaries of Green
river. The trees found are small and of little value for saw-
ing.
  Hard-wood.-The species of oak, known among wood-work-
ers as white oak, attains an enormous development along Green:
river. The white oak, burr oak, and swamp white oak, form
immense trunks, reaching to a height of eighty feet, where
they still seem to be three feet in diameter. One could hardly
determine which to admire most-their ntumber, their size, or
grand uniform straight trunks. Although for thirty years the
trade in French butts via New Orleans has existed, one cannot
see that even an impression has been made on the supply.
Timber which has stood the test for such a long period of time
in the manufacture of wine-casks needs no recommendation
from any one.
  The Spanish oak is very plentiful in some localities. The
timber of this species of oak is valued for wagon-work of all
kinds, and is scarcely, if at all, inferior for such manufactures to
white oak. The bark is also used in tanning.
  Chestnut oak is abundant on the ridges on both sides of
Green river, but especially to the west of it. The largest
beech trees I have ever seen are very abundant on Green river.
Their trunks are finely formed, running up forty to fifty feet
without any large branches, and as much as three feet in diam-
eter three feet from the ground.
  The chestnut is abundant also.
                                                          41



15

 

REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF



  The hickories are among the largest trees-very tall, but not
so great in diameter as the oaks and sweet gum, but exceed-
ingly numerous. Neither black nor white walnuts are here found
in abundance, and the trees which are found are of inferior
size. The wild cherry is not abundant. The sugar maple.
black birch, and hemlock are common in the gulches. The
white soft maple is found everywhere. On the uplands hoop-
poles seem quite inexhaustible in quantity, and of very good
quality.
  Black hickory (Carya Tomentosa), when from five to ten
inches in diameter near the base, is used for making bent-work
in the manufacture of buggies and carriages, and for other
uses. In the counties of Grayson and Edmonson there is an
immense supply of this class of wood. Much of it is too far
from the railroad to bear hauling by wagon, and then car trans-
portation to points where it is manufactured into carriage stuff.
If some company would put up machinery in the midst of the
material, it would certainly prove remunerative if properly car-
ried on. The timber would cost but a trifle, labor in abundance
could be had at a fair price, and fuel would be very low, as in
many places coal is to be had for the digging from hillside
veins. The manufactured articles could be got away at a small
expense compared with that of hauling the rough timber. Dur-
ing the winter and spring months, when the river and its trib-
utaries are in good stage of water, the expense of getting
material transported would be comparatively little. The large
quantity of the right kind of material found here, the extreme
abundance of fuel and cheap labor, would give a well-managed
company the control of the market in such manufactures.
  While elm, so-called in this State (Ulmnus alata), is very
abundant all through the counties of Grayson and Edmonson,
as well as in the other parts of the State, especially along the
tributaries of Green river below these counties. This is one
of the valuable materials for manufactures found here. The
wood fibres of the elm interlace, and render the wood tough
and difficult to split, while it is both light and elastic. These
are the qualities desired in hubs for carriages, small spring-
42

 
BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES.



wagons, and buggies. No iron bands are required, and they
may be very light; at the same time they are strong, and
neither split or crack if properly seasoned. A large quantity
of this wood is found of the right size for the uses named.
  Yfleberry, sassafras, chesinut.-The value of the trees just
named for fence-posts is not well understood. Mulberry is
equal to black locust in all respects, except that it does not
become quite so hard. The sassafras is scarcely, if at all,
inferior to either, and both are found here in considerable quan-
tities. The sassafras is a tree of rapid growth, and springs up
everywhere in old fields and abandoned ground. The wood is
light, but tough enough to hold nails, and is very enduring in
all exposures. The chestnut is valuable wood for posts, but it
should be cut at the season when there is the least sap in the
wood to prevent the ravages of insects, and that decay pro-
duced by decomposition of the sap. The month of August or
September, when the growth of the season is completed, and
there is usually a deficiency of moisture in the ground, would
be the best time to cut it. By dipping the end of the seasoned
wood which is to go into the ground in hot coal-tar, a post will
be secured which will outlast a generation. The time is com-
ing when either fencing must be abandoned, or some other
material than oak on the one hand, which is too perishable, or
locust or cedar on the other, which will be too expensive, must
be found. With seasoned posts of either of these trees, and
seasoned chestnut boards, a fence will be made which will last
a generation.
  Turning-wood.-The elm ( Ulnzms alata), which is a fine-
grained white-wood, the dogwood (Cornus Florida), buckeye
(Aesculus of several species), the holly (flex opaca), the hop-
hornbeam (Ostrya Virginica), and the ironwood (Carlinus
Americana)-these and other trees, suitable for the manufac-
ture of turned work of various kinds, exist in great abundance.
The dogwood is specially abundant, and of large size for that
little tree, sometimes eight or nine inches in diameter, and is
of well-known properties; the wood is very hard and compact
when seasoned, and useful for any kind of turned work requir-
                                                          43



17

 

REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF



ing fineness of grain and hardness. For work requiring soft
white-wood, the elm, holly, buckeye, with many others, such as
white soft maple and linn, give a wide range for choice, and all
are to be had in considerable quantities.

                       FRUIT-RAISING.
  This branch of industry has been neglected hitherto in the
part of the State under consideration. But many localities
offer good inducements to persons fitted for, and inclined to,
this agreeable and often profitable pursuit. That series of
hills known as Muldraugh's Hill. connecting east with the
spurs of the Cumberland Mountains, and with more or less
altitude extending westward to the Ohio river, are becoming
known to be well adapted to the growth of various kinds of
fruits, among which are the peach and strawberry. The series
of hills in the western part of Barren county, running nearly
parallel with Green river, it is also known, are equally adapted
to the peach, which seldom fails to produce good crops. The
same is true of localities in Edmonson county, near the course
of the Nolin, where peach tr